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I am rack storing my boat for the first time this year. The guy that I talked withat the marina kept refereing this service as to a valet service. When I use a valet service to park my car it is customary to tip the person. Is this true with rack storage?? I pay a lot for this service anyways. Wife says no- I say ask my friends at the hull truth boating forum.
I don't tip for in and outs at storage, and I haven't seen anyone else do it. The monthly rate is high enough as is. At Christmas, I saw more gifts and cards with checks than I would have expected. I get good service so next Christmas, I guess I'll probably do something too.
My friends have used rack storage at a couple of different places and I have never seen a tip for routine lauch and recovery. As with anything else, if you want something extra or above and beyond routine, a tip never hurts.
I tip $5 each trip. Those guys working the big forklifts and scrubbing the scum line off my boat need to know how much I appreciate their hard work. Stan
A buddy of mine tips some, I don't know how much. There was a time he went down to the boat and found rust stains on the deck.
Now this boat is stored outside, as it is to big to go into the dry area. Come to find out the forklift driver tilted the forks to manuver around to the boat beside him and all the rust and saltwater in the tubler forks came out on his deck. Of corse it sat there for a week or two and stained the heck out of it as no one knew except the forklift driver, and maybe he didn't even know. It made a hell of a mess. I used naveljell to get most of it off,after he tried everything he knew.
Nedless to say the tips stoped. They don't give a damn about your boat. Their stuck there on the 4th of July and all the other holidays, when everyone else is having a GOOD TIME!
Depends on the people you're tipping, but I think it is certainly worth it to do so. It tells the people you care, so they usually extend a little extra care and caution with your boat. It also gets you assistance when docking, because they know you'll take care of them (with a tip). When they see you coming in, they'll be waiting with a helping hand. If you don't see others tipping, it just makes your tip that much better...
I totally agree with Mud Minnow and I tip EVERY time I use their service! It doesn't matter if I ask them to put my boat on a "wash rack" or in the water, 5-10 bucks each day I am "using" my boat. I do not tip in & out, but at the end of the day. I am a firm believer in tipping and service and I get it. My friends are amazed how quickly the drivers will get my boat when it is crowded! I also will bag up Dolphin, Kingfish or whatever I have enough of and give the driver a bag of it! I believe it is to your advantage to get friendly with these guys as it definitely pays off! I hardly ever see anyone tip the drivers beside myself, but, they can beat me to the marina and my boat will come out next! I strongly reccommend tipping the forklift drivers! Try it and get on a first name basis with them, you'll see!
Don't ever hesitate to point out damage or even stains caused by something at the marina! I bought my Parker new and will not accept any marks or scratches on my boat I did not put there!
I know with all the other costs of owning a boat, tipping is the last thing you may want to do, but, it is worth it and I just add it into the list of expenses!
I agree with Parker At The Bar, a few bucks here and there and getting on a first name basis is a big help. Many times I have been told by the office that it is a 1 hour wait only to see my boat next on the lift.
Steve
I'd rather die while I'm living than live while I'm dead...
Knowing guys who do run those lifts; I can say that you will recieve better service with a tip. Doesn't have to be all the time and doesn't have to be money. Just ask the guys. Some like beer and fresh filets more than $$$.
Years ago, in another life, when the economy wasn't as wonderful as it is today, I worked for a bit selling cars....
Now, when a sold vehicle was delivered, it needed to go to "clean-up", first, to be detailed. The clean-up/lot boys were none to fast to begin with, and on a busy day they'd get behind, and usually do a half-assed job, besides. Selling a car is like sex with a partner you don't really know or like: once you have the customer's money, you want them the hell and gone out of there in their new car -- not hanging around, making small talk, while you wait for the F&I to process the paperwork, or clean-up to finish slapping the car with wet, dirty towels.
To bring this back on topic, I decided to tip whoever was prepping my car for delivery $10-$20, or so, figuring if I were making a couple hundred plus, it was money well spent to get a *clean* car quickly, and a happy customer. Buy a $40k German import -- hell, buy a $12,000 Geo -- you expect not to find a sticky ring on the console where the lot boy has spilled his Coke when using the car to pick up burgers.....
Initially, this tactic worked a treat! My cars came out first, on a busy Saturday, and were reasonably clean. But. A couple $20's here and there, began to hurt *me* surprisingly, as after-tax dollars, when I was barely able to pay rent. Then, I noticed the service soon became no better than before I started to tip, and the few times I didn't tip, not having ready cash, the car emerged filthy.
So now I was stuck: other salesmen were getting "X" level of service from clean-up, and, when they got a dirty car, could at least openly bitch to the clean-up crew and/or service manager. I, however, was lucky to get "X" while paying $100 a month, and when I received "X -1", couldn't really complain, being hostage to a situation of my own making....
I'm not opposed to tipping whatsoever, and I'm extremely generous to service industries that rely on tipping -- wait staff/valets/etc. But I also learned a hard lesson about setting up a cash-based relationship outside established rules of service.
I'd be pretty peeved having to "out-tip" another boat owner, to get my boat first, if I *arrived* first.
I think a much better way of handling this is for the marina to say: 'please: no gratuities, except at the end of the season. If we've done a good job, a contribution will be cheerfully accepted and divided among our staff,' or something along those lines.
feralcat, I do not think you must tip, I just believe it reaps its rewards! I also do not try to out-tip anyone else as it doesn't even appear most people tip at all. I do think an auto detail business is quite different than a marina that has the same employee for years. I believe they hire a different "caliber" individual to work in those places and the turn over rate is much higher.
I only suggest you make the forklift operator your friend, whether it is through tipping or filets or beer! Even though I do tip, I do not expect to get my boat before it is my turn, but, it does happen!
I must add that the marina where I keep my Parker is a "face only" marina on the weekends! This means they will not "launch" my or any other boat without being present. During the week, when it is much slower, you can call in and have them pull the boat for you. When there is 5-10 people waiting for their boat on a Saturday morning, nobody really knows whose turn it is anyway, so there isn't much dispute over which boat comes out next. I have seen people raise their voice at the forklift operator and can tell you it gets them nowhere!
and don't do rack storage, so in all honesty, Parker-At-The-Bar, if the bite were on, you'd probably see me waving bills like I wanted a table dance, on a crowded weekend morning.
I don't know: the occasional tip, six-pack, etc, seems great. Better still might be the offer to take the forklift driver's kid fishing, once in a while?
But we're all adults here. I was just chuckling thinking back, and learned a good lesson for myself.
Location: On My 340B SeaVee With Very Big Verados!
Posts: 5,138
Rack Storage edict
I ALWAYS tip, Every time, all dock hands, Thats why they respect me and my property and provide excellent service and I have a newly carpeted bunk
and don't get fork tracks all over my hull or other peoples filthy bottom paint or burn marks PLUS when I honk my horn at the dock they come running like rats to cheese, guess I'm the big cheese. ALWAYS help with docking, lines, bumpers get the other boats out of the way. Ocassionally I buy all the hands a couple of pizza's. Parker Where do you keep your boat?
Remember like others have said, this is a service industry, you want service, than pay for it!
I tip the dockhands as well. It USUALLY works wonders. However, I did encounter an individual who won the "Stupid Award of the Year" in my book:
The fork lift operator, as he leaned against the counter in the marina office at 10:30 AM on a Tuesday (read: "dead slow") proceeded to tell me, "You can't just come down here anytime you want and expect us to put your boat in the water for you." This, mind you, was in response to my stopping by the marina to gaze upon my pride-and-joy, deciding that I had the time to go out for a spin, and asking (very politely, I must add) if he would put my boat in the water.
Naturally, my gut instict was to extinguish him from this earth. As a civilized individual, I took a better approach...when my boat was put in the water (despite his protest with no launching schedule or call-ahead policy), I informed the marina manager that I was taking my boat to another facility. He chuckled. I didn't. My boat is now elsewhere...
Sometimes, no matter how well one grease's the wheels, they still stick!
I agree that tipping pays! It is a small price to pay in the overall cost of operating a boat and fishing or cruising, compared to the benefits you get in return. I know a heck of a lot more about the overall attitude and operating procedures of my marina by being on a first name basis with the dockhands/forklift operators than I will ever learn from management. And they took care of me and my boat. I am currently on a trailer as well. It doesnt matter how much you pay for a meal, you still tip the server, especially when you keep coming back. My storage rate more than doubled before I got out, but dockhands' salaries stayed about the same.
TRAFFICLAWYER, I keep my Parker at SeaSport Marina, Jupiter Fl. Do you know the place?
One other suggestion that may be as good as tipping is to help the dockhands move the other boats so the forklift can pull them out of the way. In the morning when I go to get my boat, there are always other boats tied to the dock, in the launch area, left from the night before. Instead of just standing there and waiting for your boat, I always walk down the dock and pull one or two other boats back. It helps speed up the process and besides, you can't go anywhere until they are out of the way.
two customers tell you at the last minute that they both would like their boats in the water asap.all things being equal one guy is a tipper and the other is not .whose boat do you think goes in the water first? better yet both guys are tippers but one is a real ball buster,who goes in first?
Rack Storage edict 
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This, mind you, was in response to my stopping by the marina to gaze upon my pride-and-joy, deciding that I had the time to go out for a spin, and asking (very politely, I must add) if he would put my boat in the water. 
As a civilized individual, I took a better approach...when my boat was put in the water (despite his protest with no launching schedule or call-ahead policy), I informed the marina manager that I was taking my boat to another facility. He chuckled. I didn't. My boat is now elsewhere...
